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SEYNE-LES-ALPES, France— French investigators cracked open a mangled black box and extracted audio from its cockpit voice recorder Wednesday, but gleaned no explanation for why a German plane dropped unexpectedly and smashed into a rugged Alpine mountain, killing all 150 on board. The orange cockpit voice recorder— dented, twisted and scarred by the impact— is...

Lopez-Belio's husband, Pawel Pracz of Manchester, England, said his wife and son had traveled to Spain for a family funeral. He was with family in Manchester, and in close contact with family in Spain. He was flying back to Britain via Dusseldorf to meet with his mother.

*Leaders of France, Germany, Spain to visit crash area. SEYNE-LES-ALPES, France, March 25- French investigators will sift through wreckage on Wednesday for clues into why a German Airbus ploughed into an Alpine mountainside, killing all 150 people on board including 16 schoolchildren returning from an exchange trip to Spain. The A320 jet operated by Lufthansa's...

Germanwings has had to cancel seven flights out of Dusseldorf because a number of crew members felt they were unfit to fly following news of the accident. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Tuesday evening that he understood the crew members' sentiments. Andrea Perez Martinez, 20, who had participated in the exchange with the German school in Haltern four years...

SEYNE-LES-ALPES, France— A black box recovered from the scene and pulverized pieces of debris strewn across Alpine mountainsides held clues to what caused a German jetliner to take an unexplained eight-minute dive Tuesday midway through a flight from Spain to Germany, apparently killing all 150 people on board. It was the deadliest crash in France in decades.

*Greece running out cash and creditors frustrated by delays. However, she signalled some flexibility on what reforms Athens would have to make, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker offered leftist Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras a sweetener by saying 2 billion euros from the European Union budget were available to ease the...

BRUSSELS— Top leaders of the European Union emerged from a meeting with the Greek prime minister early Friday telling him much what they have for weeks: Come up with a reform plan if you want more money to stay solvent. The EU leaders said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras committed to providing a list of specific reforms in the coming days that would improve his...

*Greece running out cash and creditors frustrated by delays. The risk of a continued standoff, exactly a month after Greece secured a last-gasp four-month extension of an EU bailout loan, was underlined in different descriptions by Tsipras and Merkel about what reforms Athens would need to launch. "It is clear that Greece is not obliged to implement...

BRUSSELS, March 20- Greece promised on Friday to speed up implementation of its extended bailout agreement and send a full list of detailed reform proposals to its euro zone partners in the coming days, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. After an overnight mini-summit with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, French President Francois Hollande and heads...

BRUSSELS, March 19- European Union leaders agreed on Thursday that economic sanctions imposed on Russia will stay in place until a Ukraine peace deal is fully implemented, effectively extending them to the end of the year if need be. EU governments were divided on whether to act now to renew economic sanctions on Russia which expire in July or to wait several...

BRUSSELS/ BERLIN, March 19- Euro zone leaders told Greece on Thursday its leftist-led government must implement agreed reforms to avert a looming cash crunch that could force it out of the single currency. Greece has been kept from bankruptcy by two international bailouts but now risks running out of money within weeks if it does not receive more funds.

PARIS, March 19- The owners of Europe's electricity grids say they need an injection of cash and a fresh look at regulation if they are to build and operate new, high-tech networks that can channel green energy sources into homes across the region. "If we want more renewables, we need smarter grids," said Joao Torres, CEO of Portugal's EDP Distribuicao and head of the...

BRUSSELS, March 19- European Union leaders look likely to keep economic sanctions on Russia in place until a Ukraine ceasefire deal is fully working, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday it would be wrong to ease pressure on Moscow prematurely. Merkel's comments suggest Germany will strongly encourage leaders meeting at a Brussels summit...

BRUSSELS— European Union leaders, losing patience with Greece's leftist government, warned Thursday that it needs to improve its balance sheet much faster if it wants their urgently needed money. "A deal is a deal," said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, reflecting exasperation among many leaders about the pace at which Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is...

*German finance minister says Athens running out of time. ATHENS/ BERLIN, March 18- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras lambasted European partners on Wednesday for criticising a new anti-poverty law hours before it is voted on, saying it was the euro zone rather than Athens that must stop "unilateral actions" and keep its word. Tensions already simmering for...

*Investors looking to turn overweight France- survey. While far from an investors' favourite, the drive to cut regulations has encouraged fund managers to boost their allocations in France, seeking value shares in firms exposed to the euro zone's second biggest economy as it starts to revive. "The response from international investors on the signs that the...

"The direction of that proposal will go into building very strong links between full implementation of Minsk and sanctions that are already in place being in place until full implementation of Minsk," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. Linking sanctions to full implementation of Minsk would effectively mean extending them at least until...

ATHENS, Greece— Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras insisted Wednesday his government will honor an election promise to end budget austerity— a note of defiance ahead of an expected meeting with the leaders of Germany and France on the country's troubled bailout. Tsipras is expected to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois...

ATHENS, March 18- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will raise the country's deepening cash crunch in talks with EU leaders at this week's summit in Brussels, the government's spokesman said on Wednesday, as Athens faces running out of cash in weeks. Tsipras wants to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, European Central...

*Greece could run out of cash within weeks. ATHENS, March 17- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has requested a meeting with top European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel at this week's EU summit, a Greek official said on Tuesday, as Athens insisted it would not be' blackmailed' over its debt crisis. With tensions still running high, Greece...